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Khamis Gaddafi, the feared youngest son of the late Libyan dictator, has
reportedly been killed during fighting in the town of Bani Walid, a Gaddafi
stronghold.

Omar Hamdan, the Libyan national congress spokesman, said in a statement that
the 28-year-old was “killed in battle.” His body was reportedly found after
a day of fighting between pro-Gaddafi forces and pro-government militias.

Intense fighting in the town over the weekend has left at least 26 people dead
and another 200 wounded.

The news of Khamis’s alleged death came amid confusion over the fate of Moussa
Ibrahim, Gaddafi’s charismatic spokesman.

Reports had claimed that Mr Ibrahim, 37, dubbed “comical Moussa”, who became a
familiar face on television during the Libyan war through his briefings to
journalists, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 70km (40 miles) south of
Tripoli.

However a government spokesman said there was no confirmation of the capture
and an audiotape surfaced allegedly of Ibrahim himself denying the news.

On the audiotape, which was posted on Facebook of an audiotape purportedly
from Ibrahim, a man identifying himself as Mr Ibrahim also paid homage to
Gaddafi, who was killed almost exactly a year ago on October 20.

“On the subject of my arrest today... it is an attempt to draw attention away
from the crimes committed by Nato’s rebels against our people in Bani
Walid,” he said. The authenticity of the report could not be immediately
confirmed.

Mr Ibrahim has been reported captured before and Khamis Gaddafi has also been
reported dead several times in the last year. However, the latest claims
prompted celebrations in the city of Misrata, which had been besieged for
months by his brutal 32nd Brigade. Khamis was known as one of the most
hardline of Gaddafi’s sons and the 32nd Brigade was blamed for an orgy of
rape and murder.

Pro-government militias, have this month encircled Bani Walid in an attempt to
bring to justice the men who kidnapped and allegedly tortured Omran Shaaban,
a former rebel credited with capturing Kadhafi.

Fierce fighting erupted on Saturday as they pushed closer to Bani Walid’s
centre in a bid to eradicate diehard former regime loyalists.

Mohammed Magarief, president of the national assembly, denied accusations that
the campaign was a form of ethnic cleansing. “It is a campaign to restore
legitimacy,” he said.